Optimistic about industry’s growth in South: India Cements MD

The southern region is slowly catching up with the rest of the country when it comes to the demand for cement with higher capacity utilisation by the plants in the current year, Srinivasan said. He was addressing shareholders at the 72nd annual general meeting of the company. The Southern region registered a growth of over 20 per cent in cement output during the April-June 2018 quarter primarily driven by the infrastructure push given by the governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, he said.

“With the rise in consumption in infrastructure and housing sectors, the future is bright for the cement industry for the next 10 years,” he said. The focus of the central and state governments is on infrastructure projects and housing schemes. So, the recovery in cement demand is expected to continue,” he said. Capacity utilisation of plants owned by India Cements Ltd was at 71 per cent, which Srinivasan said was better than the industry peers in the South. India Cements substantially improved the operating performance in the first quarter of the financial year April-June 2018 with capacity utilisation of 80 per cent as compared to 67 per cent in the same quarter the previous year, he said. Exuding confidence that the second quarter of the current financial year would be better, he said, “This year, we are seeing good volumes. Going forward, we will be operating almost to full capacity in the fourth quarter of this year.”

On the plans for capacity expansion in Sankari and Dalavoi plants in Tamil Nadu, he said the company would explore avenues for augmenting capacity after attaining the expected full capacity utilisation.